Micro Mini Urban Farming

2/08/2011

MMMmmmmm – veggies.There are few vegetables I’ve met and didn’t like.With so many different varieties of veggies to choose from, I figured the best way to begin the selection process was by limitations:

“Freeze” ability - Able to freeze well for storage throughout the year.(Root cellar; possible project for next year.)

I began by making a list of all the veggies/herbs I thought my family would like to eat:

Artichoke

Chard

Radish

Asparagus

Chives

Rosemary

Basil

Cilantro

Spinach

Beans, green and yellow

Corn

Squash, Acorn

Beets

Cucumber

Squash, Butternut

Broccoli

Eggplant

Squash, Yellow Summer

Brussels Sprouts

Lettuce

Thyme

Cabbage

Onion, Bulb and Green

Tomato

Cantaloupe

Peas

Turnips

Carrots

Peppers, green and hot

Watermelon

Cauliflower

Potato

Zucchini

Notice how I first limited the list by including only those veggies my family and I would eat – not by which ones I would like to grow.I would like to grow pumpkins and ornamental gourds (the ones birdhouses are made out of), and grains like quinoa or buckwheat; however, I cannot justify the space these crops use for the return on yield or use.

Next limitation; I began a detailed research into the plants themselves, asking questions like how much space they needed to grow, how much water they need, what kind of soil did each prefer, how to increase yield, and how much fertilizer to use and how often.

I picked up a book on basic botany and refreshed my high school science lab knowledge on plants in general.By doing so, I picked up some very useful information on root systems that made all the difference in my final plant selections.

Roots 101

The purpose of a root system is to absorb water and nutrients from the surrounding soil and transport them to the stem. The main parts of a root system are the main root (aka taproot, grows straight down vertically), secondary roots (the ones that grow out horizontally), and the root cap (aka the apex).

There are several types of roots:Fibrous (bulb onions, corn), Adventitious (tomatoes, asparagus), Conical (carrots), Fusiform (radish), Tuberiferious (potato) and Napiform (turnips). Fibrous roots have many spreading branches.Adventitious roots grow out of a cut stem or leaf.Conical roots are wide at the top and taper to a point at the apex. Fusiform roots are tapered at both ends, forming an oval shape. Tuberiferious roots have branches that form rounded knobs.Napiform roots grow wider than long.

The exterior of a root is covered by a layer of cells that make up the epiblem (or rhizodermis).From these cells grow root hairs.The root hairs job is to increase the surface area from which the plant can obtain water and nutrients.Root hairs live for days at a time, die, and are replaced by new ones near the apex.

That is important enough to repeat by shouting - NEAR THE APEX. Why is this important? If you recall from the first paragraph, the apex of the root is the bottom part of the taproot.New root hairs, which transport water and nutrients, grow from the bottom of the tap root, which itself is growing ever downward.If you damage the tap root and the root hairs, the plant has to be able to support its current size on the remaining undamaged roots until it can repair itself.

Upon realizing this, I felt the practice of trimming the roots of any plant to be foolish. o.O

If the roots are heavily damaged, the leaves must be pruned off and water drastically reduced until the plant can repair and replace its root system.To me, that’s a weaker plant, not a stronger one.I have not yet found any evidence that a plant replaces its damaged roots with more or hardier roots to compensate.Once the plants roots have repaired, then growth will again resume from where it left off.

Soil structure is also important – try to grow a plant in soil that is mostly hard clay, and the taproot will be unable to penetrate adequately, thereby stunting the growth of the plant or killing it altogether. While it is true most plants can adapt to soil conditions to some degree, it seems to me the better, healthier plant has the soil adapted to its needs. But more on soil later….

(This website provides many additional publications well worth reading on rainy days).Next, I made a spreadsheet to compare the plant stats against soil and water needs, with the aim of grouping plants together that had similar attributes. Individual cultivar (variety; i.e., Cherokee Purple tomato vs. Brandywine tomato) was not a consideration at this point. You can see the results in the table below:

(A caveat before reading further:The information below is generally accurate as relates to the average, normal, healthy plant in standard beneficial conditions of soil, climate, etc.It is not meant to be exact; there are differences in every plant, and varying conditions in climate, soil, and growing methods make all the difference in the growth and production habit of a plant.)

W% - How wet the soil needs to be at a minimum, with 0% being dry and 100% wet

SagH - Plant Spread Above Ground, Horizontal (at harvest)

SagV - Plant Spread Above Ground, Vertical (at harvest)

Veg

RC

RD

FD

Soil

W

W%

SagH

SagV

Artichoke

4 ft

WD,D

6 ft

4 ft

Asparagus

2 ft

2ft

0-3 ft

WD

1/20

40

3 in

4 ft

Basil

0-12 in

WD

1-2 ft

2-4 ft

Beans, gr

1-6 in

WD,M

1/5

50

2 ft

2 ft

Beans, yw

1-6 in

WD,M

1/5

50

2 ft

2 ft

Beets

2-4ft

6-10ft

0-5 ft

WD,D,M

1/14

20

1 ft

1 ft

Broccoli

WD

1/5

70

1 ft

2 ft

Brussel Spt

WD

1/5

70

2 ft

2-3 ft

Cabbage

3.5 ft

5 ft

0-2ft

L,M

1/10

60

2 ft

1 ft

Cantaloupe

15 ft

4 ft

0-12 in

WD,L

1/10

60

V

V

Carrots

1 ft

2.5 ft

1-12 in

L,M

1/21

50

16 in

1 ft

Cauliflower

2 ft

3-12in

0-12 in

L,M

1/5

60

2 ft

2 ft

Chard

3-4ft

6ft

0-2 ft

1 ft

Chives

Corn

2-3 ft

3-5 ft

0-2 ft

WD

1/14

50

2 ft

5 ft

Cucumber

3 ft

4 ft

0-12 in

WD, M

1/7

50

V

V

Eggplant

2 ft

5 ft

0-2ft

WD

1/7

50

20 in

2-3 ft

Lettuce

2 ft

6 ft

0-4 in

WD,M

1/7

60

V

V

Onion, bulb

2 ft

3 ft

20-32in

L,M

1/7

70

6 in

19 in

Peas

2 ft

3 ft

0-2 ft

WD

1/7

40

V

V

Pepper, gr

2.5 ft

3 ft

0-12 in

L,M

1/7

50

2 ft

2-3 ft

Pepper, hot

L,M

1/7

50

V

V

Potato

2 ft

3 ft

WD

1/7

70

V

1-2 ft

Radish

1 ft

2 ft

1-4 in

L, WD

1/5

70

6 in

6 in

Spinach

1 ft

6 ft

2-6 in

WD,M

1/5

70

1 ft

1 ft

Squash, Acorn

14 ft

6 ft

0-12 in

WD

1/10

40

10ft+

1 ft

Squash, Btrnut

0-12 in

WD

1/10

40

10ft+

1 ft

Squash, Smr

0-2 ft

WD

1/5

70

3 ft

3 ft

Tomato

3 ft

5 ft

0-2 ft

M,D

1/5

50

V

V

Turnips

2.5 ft

5.5 ft

0-3 ft

D,M,L

1/7

70

1 ft

1 ft

Watermelon

20 ft

4 ft

0-12 in

WD,L

1/21

40

15+

1ft

Zucchini

0 – 2 ft

WD

1/5

70

3ft

3ft

*Notes:

Data was gathered from multiple sources, including personal observation.

Empty cells = no data found or known (yet)

The SAGH(V) values (plant spread above ground, horizontal/vertical) relates to the size at harvest, not full maturity of plants.Measurements were not given where multiple variants and cultivation methods result in highly diverse and individualized harvest sizes (i.e. tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.).

Feeding Depth (FD) where 0 is included; most roots begin 1-2 inches below the actual top of the soil, not at 0 (which is the soil surface.)

All herbs will be grown in same conditions as basil, not in the planned garden plot, and so were omitted from the results.

Root circumference and depth are based on mature plants.A majority of plants are harvested before full maturity (example:radish is ready at 30 days for harvest, but not fully mature until 90 days when it goes to seed.)

After studying my chart, I decided that if I were to save seeds for next growing season, I would have to plant two additional small beds for plants to grow to full maturity (but, more on seeds later…)

A quick word on budget; the goal is to make this project as inexpensive and cost effective as possible.I think of the project as having two phases; Install Phase and Maintenance Phase. I put the $1000 mark as extreme in my mind for install, but hope the actual cost will be under $500.However, unforeseen expenditures (cost of soil amendments, frames, irrigation, and such) during the install phase will probably occur. Then, there’s the family curse – everything we buy is either already broken or will be shortly.o.OSo, putting in the garden may run more than $1000.Maintenance phase should cost under $500 a year definitely.I will keep an ongoing separate list with details of the actual costs and post it at the end of each Phase, whether a success or fail.

Of course, there is always the possibility of failed crops due to human error, pests, weather events, and toddlers o.OGenerally speaking though, any amount that comes in under $5000 during Install Phase and provides all our vegetable needs for an entire year would still be a tremendous savings of thousands of dollars, not to mention gmo free, pesticide free, chemical free, and more nutritious food for my family.

From this point on, additional information on soil, water, growing methods, planting methods, training methods, composting, mulching, and pest control – all of which will be covered in additional posts – will serve to refine and/or enhance plant choices, rather than eliminate them (hopefully).

Besides, I wouldn’t want to get overly technical in deciding what to grow.o.O